Claims
- 1. In a composting unit comprising a housing and an aeration drum rotatably mounted for rotation about a longitudinal axis thereof oriented horizontally inside the housing, the aeration drum and the housing having cooperating access means for receiving human waste matter from a toilet remote from the unit and discharging said waste into the drum, solid waste discharge means for discharging decomposed solid waste matter, liquid waste discharge means in the aeration drum in fluid communication with the housing, and respective gas outlet means for ventilation and aeration of the aeration drum, the improvement in which the aeration drum has a narrow first end and a wide second end extending radially outwardly from said narrow first end, the liquid waste discharge means being disposed in said wide second end and the solid waste discharge means being disposed in said narrow first end for discharge of decomposed solid waste matter in a radial direction into the housing beneath said narrow first end of the drum where the decomposed solid waste matter is accommodated until periodically removed through withdrawal means provided in the housing, the configuration of said aeration drum being adapted to favour the separation of dried decomposed solid waste matter while maintaining a moist environment required for decomposition.
- 2. Composting unit according to claim 1 in which the narrow first end has a substantially constant first diameter over a predetermined first length of the drum, the wide second end has a substantially constant second diameter exceeding said first diameter over a predetermined second length of the drum, and the drum further includes an intermediate portion of variable diameter disposed between said narrow first end and said wide second end, said configuration of the aeration drum being adapted to favour the separation of dried decomposed solid waste matter while maintaining a moist environment required for decomposition.
- 3. Composting unit according to claim 2 in which said second length exceeds said first length.
- 4. In a composting unit comprising an aeration drum having access means for receiving waste matter, solid waste discharge means for discharging decomposed solid waste matter, and liquid waste discharge means for discharging liquid, the aeration drum being rotatably mounted for rotation about a longitudinal axis thereof oriented horizontally, the improvement in which the aeration drum has a narrow first end and a wide second end extending radially outwardly from said narrow first end, the narrow first end having a substantially constant first diameter over a first predetermined length of the drum, the wide second end having a substantially constant second diameter exceeding said first diameter over a predetermined second length of the drum, and the drum further including an intermediate portion of variable diameter disposed between said narrow first end and said wide second end, the liquid waste discharge means being disposed in the wide second end of the drum and the solid waste discharge means being disposed in said narrow first end.
- 5. Composting unit comprising
- a housing defining a first chamber for air circulation and the collection of liquids drained from decomposing waste, said housing having waste and air inlet means and air outlet means;
- an aeration drum rotatably mounted for rotation about a longitudinal axis thereof oriented horizontally inside the housing, the aeration drum having waste inlet means disposed to receive waste discharged into the housing from said inlet means in the housing, and gas outlet means for discharging gas into the housing and the aeration drum having a narrow first end of substantially constant diameter and a wide second end of substantially constant diameter exceeding the diameter in the narrow first end and an intermediate portion of variable diameter disposed between said narrow first end and said wide second end of the drum, the wide second end defining a second chamber for wet decomposition of waste and having liquid discharge means in fluid communication with the housing, the narrow first end defining a third chamber for drier decomposition of waste and having solid waste discharge means; and
- a receptacle disposed in the housing beneath the narrow first end of the aeration drum to receive drier decomposing solid waste discharged from the aeration drum through said solid waste discharge means, said receptacle defining a fourth chamber for decomposition isolated from the other chambers and removable from the unit for periodic emptying upon completion of aerobic decomposition.
- 6. Composting unit according to claim 5 in which the aeration drum includes a perforated collar disposed on the intermediate portion and adapted to retain decomposing solid waste in the narrow first end while permitting liquid to drain into the wide second end.
- 7. Composting unit according to claim 5 in which the housing has respective openings for the addition of selected conditioners and accelerators to the wide second end of the aeration drum and to the narrow first end of the aeration drum.
- 8. Composting unit according to claim 5 in which the air outlet means in the housing is at the narrow first end of the aeration drum and the unit includes an electric fan for air circulation disposed inside the housing above the narrow first end of the aeration drum and communicating with said air outlet means.
- 9. Composting unit according to claim 5 in which the housing includes an electric motor for rotation of the aeration drum disposed above the narrow first end of the aeration drum.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation-in-part of prior application Ser. No. 08/037,756, filed on Mar. 26, 1993, U.S. Pat. No. 5,345,620.
US Referenced Citations (14)
Foreign Referenced Citations (3)
Number |
Date |
Country |
2494715 |
May 1982 |
FRX |
2598705 |
Nov 1987 |
FRX |
1226786 |
Sep 1989 |
JPX |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
37756 |
Mar 1993 |
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